Moon light?

DMD123

DMD123

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Freshwater guys dont seem to care about lighting very much so I thought I would bring it up her on the saltwater section.

Do you use moon lighting at all, if so what type? Are you using alighting control system, if so what type?

I am trying to set up some special lighting features on my 210g CA/SA cichlid tank.
 
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sounguru

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I'm a freshie .... Wait that sounds bad I mean I'm a sweet water guy .. no wait ... Ahhh forget it.

I have used moonlight LED's in my tanks before. On a 29 I used 3 spaced across and it was a big help to the parents to allow them to keep an eye on the fry at night. Just don't over do it.

I had 4 timers going with 3 light bars and the moonlights.

One bar came on at 8 am and the moons went off
second came on at 8:30
Third came on at 9:00

First went off at 10
Second went off at 10:30 and moons came on
Third went off at 11

It was really cool because you could watch the behavior of the fish change as the lights did.

I plan on the same setup for my 75 once I get there.
 
DMD123

DMD123

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Thanks sounguru,

That is basically what I am looking to set up. I have two of the older Current USA 2LED white lunar lights that I want to use for a dawn effect before the mains come on and I also want the blue Moon light effect before they go to sleep. I like the lighting control systems but they are not cheap, so I have been using regular old plug in digital timers.
 
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sounguru

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I find the digital timers work just fine unless you are going for a gradual fade in or out which then takes more control. I just left the moons on all night and never had a problem.

I do know of one guy that had his tank set to match the light schedule of the area in which the biotope was from, dedicated a computer to the controlling of the different light setups. It was kind of cool in that you could see the moon schedule of say Asia by just watching his tanks... Last I heard from him he was working on matching the weather too and trying to figure out how to make a monsoon/drought cycle happen by doing automated water changes based on that schedule....
 
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sounguru

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That looks sweet may have to look into it for my 75 project .... but I'm kind of old skool in my setups and a lot of DIY. I have actually been talking to a buddy of mine of building an 10 outlet strip that has 5 timed and 5 full power.
 
DMD123

DMD123

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Would be interested in seeing the DIY approach. Just seems like some parts can end up getting expensive and it would just be cheaper to buy a ready to go solution.
 
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sounguru

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DMD123 said:
Would be interested in seeing the DIY approach. Just seems like some parts can end up getting expensive and it would just be cheaper to buy a ready to go solution.
Click to expand...
That is what he is looking into... He is a electronics geek and is also helping me design the LED's for the lights in the hood. Once we figure out price point and build time I will surely get the info out there if it is worth it.
 
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sounguru

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We have ordered from them before decent service and pricing...

I have been eyeballing the waterproof light strips for awhile ... but since my 7 days aren't up I can't post a link... :evil:
 
DMD123

DMD123

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I did a small order from them of some power cables so that I can finish off a project with my Current USA LED's that I have. I was impressed that they had an option for USPS which is cheap for what I needed; $3.07 in shipping. If I only had UPS or Fed Ex as an option I know my simple order would have been at least 8-9 dollars in shipping.

They were also good about contacting me back in regard my email question and sent a link of a reef tank that someone had done and what product was used. I love it when companies respond to personal email because it shows they care and are not too "big" to care about you.

I found these guys because of the ad here on fishbox. Seems to be a pretty good company to deal with. :D
 
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TerenceH

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I did a slow on slow off dimming system for the tank I am working on. I got the LEDs on ebay. I used basic GU10 sockets and bulbs
 
DMD123

DMD123

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TerenceH said:
I did a slow on slow off dimming system for the tank I am working on. I got the LEDs on ebay. I used basic GU10 sockets and bulbs
Click to expand...
Would love to see pics when your done. Are you using timers at all?
 
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sounguru

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Time to start planning... ;)

I think I'm gonna pick up 3 of the WFLB series Waterproof Flexible Light Bar in the 9.5" for my 2 10 and one 15 rack I'm building and see how they work with plants in the cool white... If it isn't enough I will add a second strip in the warm white...
 
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TerenceH

New Member
Yes... the timers turn the slow on/off control on/off

Link to what I have posted thus far. Working on 3D wall now. When that is done I will be stocking. Maybe a few people will want to do a group order from reserve stock.
 
DMD123

DMD123

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lighting is one of those overlooked categories esp. with freshwater. The saltwater guys are usually all over it, thats why I ended up posting here. Then funny thing is all us freshwater guys all have the same idea...
 
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sounguru

New Member
So after a little more research on a 10 gallon setup to do live plants i think I can get way with 3 of these ...

3 watt cree with lens

Would love to link but alas 7 days are not up yet. I will then use one blue for moon. Looking at a using a 4 way DIY timer...
 
DMD123

DMD123

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Follow up: I got my order in and was happy with the quality of parts for the price that I got from these guys at superbrightleds.com.

Was not happy with the new light from Current USA. This new moonlight has 3 LED's but is super dim. The old lights were powerful, the 2 LED's would illuminate all the way to the bottom of my 29" deep tank. Too bad I cant find just one more of the old type lights to finish my project.
 
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